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Social Enterprise Company Lands £5 Million Recycling Contract

Nov 08, 2005

Social enterprise company, Bryson House Recycling, has won the largest recycling contract ever awarded in Northern Ireland.

The £5 million contract with Arc21, a group of 11 local councils, adds to the company’s existing work with seven other councils and is creating 22 new jobs, increasing the total number of full time employees to over 100.

Enterprise Minister, Angela Smith, congratulated Bryson House Recycling today as she officially opened a new recycling facility in Mallusk to cater for the new contract.

Speaking at the event, the Minister said: “The new facility is an excellent example of a social economy business which is helping to protect the environment whilst generating a healthy profit. Social economy businesses are making a significant contribution to the local economy and the government is committed to developing the business strengths of this sector and providing a supportive environment in which it can prosper.

“Government takes its responsibilities in relation to the environment very seriously, as evidenced in the new £50million Environment and Energy fund announced recently in the draft budget.”

The newly awarded contract will allow Bryson House Recycling to process materials such as paper, cards, cans and plastic bottles, and the new facility will manage approximately 60% of all household recyclables collected at the kerbside in Northern Ireland. The state of the art recycling facility costing more than £1 million, installed by Carmac Waste Handling Systems Ltd, is now operating at the Mallusk site.

Chair of Bryson House Recycling, Nick McCafferty said: “This is an important day for us and marks the next step in the evolution of our recycling services. The new facility will allow us to process 45,000 tonnes of recyclables annually, which will significantly reduce the amount being landfilled in Northern Ireland. It will also help us to meet one of our key goals; the creation of a sustainable and community focused solution to waste management.”

A long-term supporter of the company, Invest Northern Ireland has recently offered Bryson House Recycling over £100,000 financial assistance towards training and development costs.

Whilst at Newtownabbey, the Minister also took the opportunity to visit a number of companies based within Mallusk Enterprise Park. Opened in 1994, the business park provides support and training facilities to 60 companies, which employ over 250 local people.

The park has doubled in size, from 30,000 to 60,000 square ft in the past two years, with assistance from Invest NI.